The Reisers and Mulfords: A basketball bloodline based on faith and family

SALT LAKE CITY — They say it's normal for families to have sibling rivalries. Herriman guard Carlo Mulford, however, took it to a whole new level when he was younger.

"He'd make some arbitrary call when we played backyard football, and it would just spiral from there," his older brother, American Fork guard Diego Mulford said.

Carlo Mulford didn't deny it.

"There were even times we're about to fight," he said.

Alta guard Ace Reiser and his brother, Dash, were much the same way, with their cousin, Copper Hills guard Isaiah Reiser, who is also cousin to Carlo and Diego Mulford, acting as a mediator.

"Every time there was a standoff, it was always one of us who had to get involved to break it up," Isaiah Reiser said.

Basketball in their DNA

Aside from the sibling rivalries, though, the Reisers and Mulfords are in no way Utah high school basketball's version of the Hatfields and McCoys.

"People can have cousins, but I feel like these guys are my brothers," Carlo Mulford said. "We've been playing basketball together since we were all in second grade."

And in some occasions, they've played against each other.

For example, Carlo Mulford and Isaiah Reiser go head-to-head twice a year as region rivals, while Ace and Dash Reiser played against Diego Mulford earlier this year in a preseason tournament at Pleasant Grove.

Regardless of the opponents they face — family or not — Ace and Dash Reiser know what it's like to be on top.

They used their defensive ability and scoring prowess, like most of their relatives have, to anchor the Alta Hawks in their run to a state championship last year, which Dash Reiser called his "favorite memory ever" in his young career, while Ace Reiser said there "were so many emotions attached."

Refined through faith and adversity

Those memories pale in comparison to the ones they've made off the court with each other, though.

"Family comes first in everything for me," Ace Reiser said. "I've been lucky to grow up with my cousins, even though we would always be out playing basketball every weekend."

Both Carlo and Diego Mulford have had that drilled into their head since they were young, thanks to their father, Jordan.

Carlo called his father "the biggest example" in his life. He said the biggest lesson he's learned from his father, who also played college basketball, is discipline. He admitted it isn't easy when deeply immersed in the game of basketball.

"I always wish I can play all the time," Mulford said. "But knowing the expectations my parents have for me, that's not realistic."

What he does, instead, is doing what's important — and hard, like asking questions in class — and keeping that as the focus in his life.

"You've got to be focused on the hard things, even when it's boring," Mulford said.

Inevitably, hard things do come, especially as an athlete. That's where the Reisers and Mulfords have learned to turn to their faith, being members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Diego Mulford said his faith is always the No. 1 priority.

"We'd be out of town playing basketball, and we would still find time to go to church on Sunday," he said. "We even went in our basketball jerseys once because we forgot our Sunday clothes at home."

No one has needed faith more than Isaiah Reiser, who lost his father to cancer when he was just 8 years old.

"My dad is the reason why I do everything, so when he passed away, it was huge," he said.

But all it did was allow the family to rally around him and his mother, Karen Dace. Isaiah's uncle, Spencer, took on the mantle of training him for basketball, while both Ace and Dash's family and the Mulfords stepped up to support him.

Now, Isaiah has developed into one of the rising stars in Utah high school basketball. He tied the Falcon Classic scoring record for a single tournament this past December, scoring 70 points over three days.

"I always know my dad's watching over me and knows what I'm going through," he said.

Everyone else in his family does, too. Dash Reiser called his cousin "the strongest person I know," while Ace Reiser said Isaiah deserves all the accolades he's earning as a player.

"We've tried our best to be there for him from Day 1," he said. "To see Isaiah go through all that and still do what he's doing is incredible."

"It's about how you respond"

It's those responses to times of adversity that have made the family stronger — and it's paid off on the basketball court, too.

Carlo Mulford wasn't even sure he'd start the season after tearing his MCL before training camp. And yet, he said he left it up to his Heavenly Father to help him stay motivated and ready. Within the first month of the season, he was playing at full-strength again.

His brother, Diego, can attest to that, as well. He went through a bad slump to begin the season, and he recalled praying every night to get out of it. Then something happened in American Fork's 71-45 rout of Lone Peak in January. Mulford went 4-for-5 from the field and 2-for-2 from 3-point range that night, finishing with 10 points.

"Those experiences really taught us God is the deciding factor in adversity, and your responses, as well," Carlo Mulford said.

At least for now, Ace and Dash have been able to rise above the adversity, both on and off the court, to win a championship. Now, everyone else in the family is aiming for the same thing.

For Isaiah Reiser, whose Grizzlies will face No. 1-ranked Layton in a second-round playoff game Friday following their 65-62 first-round win over Syracuse Wednesday.

"Hopefully we all can get there one day," Reiser said.

No matter if they do or not, there's no denying these two basketball families are not only building for now, but also for the future.

"Competition's just in our blood; our parents always want us to improve," Ace Reiser said.

And there's still time to write their own story — just as they are now.

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